Tumbling
by 13 Bridges of Water
Summary: Falling in love wasn't the right word.  It was more like tumbling, head over heels, forever and knowing that she would never stop. She would just fall deeper and deeper in love with Tara.  Willow/Tara fluff


**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Buffy the Vampire Slayer**_**, and I can honestly say that I don't wish I did. I could never compare to the awesomeness that is Joss Whedon.**

**Author's Note: This was written for the fourth International Day of Femslash. I absolutely love Willow/Tara and think that their relationship played out beautifully. I enjoy filling in the parts we didn't get to see. Usually I write about the earlier parts of their relationship, but this time I wanted to try later on, so this is set mid-season six. This is intended to be a oneshot although I may write other stories set in the same universe. Please review- I really appreciate it.**

Willow had thought she had been in love before, but sitting on the couch, holding Tara's hand, she realized that she had been wrong. She had loved Oz, and she had always and probably would always love Xander, but she had not been in love with either of them. They would always have a place in her heart and she would always love and care about them, but the way she felt for them couldn't hold a candle to the way she felt for Tara.

Falling in love wasn't the right word, she realized, as she scooted closer to Tara and rested her head softly on Tara's shoulder. As she drank in the scent of Tara's neck, warm and rich, slightly floral mixed with something unique to Tara, she decided that it was more like tumbling. Tumbling head over heels, over and over, every time she saw Tara, as if she were falling down a flight of stairs and she should be scared except she wasn't because she knew she would never reach the bottom. That there never would be a bottom. She would simply keep falling deeper and deeper in love with Tara forever.

The revelation initially shocked her- she had been so lost in just being with Tara that she hadn't realized just how far in love she had fallen. Words came to her mind in small bursts: forever, us, perfect… soul mate. Yes, that was the word she needed, and yet even that couldn't convey how she felt about Tara. They were more than that. They weren't just meant for each other, they didn't just share a soul- they were a soul, at least to Willow they were. She would be nothing, she knew without, Tara.

She was blessed. That much she was sure of. There was simply no explanation otherwise for why Tara would want to be with her. She didn't deserve Tara in the first place let alone after everything she had done to her. She was still amazed that Tara had forgiven her, had given her a second chance. She was determined not to screw up again, to do everything right, to be nothing more or less than exactly what Tara wanted and needed, so that perhaps she could come close to deserving her.

As time went on, she knew that this would be her place always, right next to Tara. She could survive whatever would come as long as she had Tara. She would love her forever, and no matter how bad things became outside, in her world everything would be right simply because Tara loved her and she loved Tara. It occurred to her that perhaps love really did make the world go round, that without true pure love perhaps the world would cease to exist.

Willow snuggled even closer to Tara before pressing a gentle kiss to her collarbone. Tara looked up from the book she had been reading, and smiled at Willow as she continued to kiss her. Then she pulled back a bit and reached for Willow, her hands framing the edges of Willow's face.

"You're so beautiful," she told Willow softly. She leaned in, their lips caressing each other's as they kissed.

After a minute, Willow broke the kiss. She leaned back far enough to be able to focus on Tara's eyes. "I love you," she murmured, "more than anything. I am in love with you and I can never stop and I never want to."

"Oh, Will," Tara said, her eyes soft. "I love you like that too."

There was no need for anymore words between them. Willow's list from earlier seemed superfluous in the moment. Everything she wanted to say was said simply in the way they held each other. Their mouths met again in a kiss, a perfect moment where they knew they would never again be truly apart.

**Authors Note: Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments or suggestions please let me know. I love any and all reviews, but especially constructive criticism. So, click that little review button down there and let me know what you thought of it. **


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